Parental Views on the Biggest Problems Facing Public Schools: National versus Local Findings.

McNamara, James F.

International Journal of Educational Reform, v6 n3 p377-89 Jul 1997

Discusses a comparative analysis of the "biggest problems question" used in both the 1996 Annual Gallup Poll of Public Education and a 1996 Houston-area district's five-year, strategic-planning survey. Although both groups identified some common concerns (discipline, drug abuse, violence, crime, and gangs), national poll respondents placed more emphasis on inadequate financial support and overcrowded schools. (MLH)